New DMR Mobile..w/GPS & 250k contacts for 179$

[wowologist]

Spotted this on their www (Retevis), not too bad looking and really tiny. Anyone purchase one yet in the USofA? Looks like ther are selling them like hotcakes... It's called the RT73

 

[mmckenna]

Spec's show 500mw audio output. That's weak for a portable. For a mobile, it seems like it would need a very quiet car.

 

[wowologist]

Ya I found that a little low, but a little further research and it looks like its a speaker/MIC combo with no speaker on the unit itself, being that the body is 121.5mm wide x 42.5mm high, 5/20w, and recording/playback? and the FM commercial
band LOL, I'm surprised they didn't find a way to fit the chicomm flashlight/LED into the mic...boy those are soooo useful!

I cant even find an FCC io page on it under any nomenclature which means it may not actually "arrive" here in the states (but for alliexpress deals or the like).

Ahh well for 179$ and all the spurious spikes you can spit..might be a fun toy in the future!

 

[mmckenna]

Wow, speaker mic on a mobile and 500mw. Every time I think the CCR's can't get any worse, they pull a "hold my beer" move….

 

[hill]

Looking at the picture it looks like a speaker grill on the right side of the front of the radio. If the speaker is only in the mic guess this is just for show.

 

[R8000]

Wow, speaker mic on a mobile and 500mw. Every time I think the CCR's can't get any worse, they pull a "hold my beer" move….

And sadly, folks keep buying them. I turned off my DMR hotspot and walked away from it 2 years ago.

 

[Skypilot007]

Will the junk from China ever stop! The market is beyond polluted with absolute garbage radios.

 

[MTS2000des]

and not even an external speaker jack. Another walkie talkie on chip wonder in a new chassis: how original! As was said in "Christine":
you can't polish a turd.

 

[alcahuete]

and not even an external speaker jack.

I think it might have one, unless they just showed an incorrect programming cable (which is a possibility). The programming cable they show is the standard 2 pin Kenwood jack. But does that mean it will also take a speaker mic? Who the hell knows...

 

[nd5y]

I cant even find an FCC io page on it under any nomenclature

If they bother to get it FCC certified it will be here https://fccid.io/2ASNS or maybe here https://fccid.io/2AAR8 unless the FCC ID belongs to another manufacturer.

 

[hill]

Looking at the picture below what is the smaller connection used for on the back? Looks to be a TNC maybe.

 

[hill]

I see now and the smaller connection must be for the included GPS to attach an antenna.

Was looking for reviews online and two are in another language. The one in English really doesn't make any sense of help out with just rambling on how good it is. With 5 stars for the reviews I would guess the sellers are just hyping up the product to get more sales.

 

[mmckenna]

Yeah, looks like an SMA for a GPS antenna.

 

[wowologist]

In more rummaging I found a www that they had it on a service monitor and SA...and amazingly its pretty clean (well decent), still cant figure out why they haven't done the FCC cert for it, maybe it's just that new.

I personally use a hotspot(s) and or hotspot with a batt. pack and cell wifi so it really wouldn't serve a purpose for me. But that being said, 20w out I could imagine some truckers and maybe some people that shoot long distance to their nearest DMR box for access might be interested in it. For almost 150$ off the other "popular" DMR + Analog mobile and literally being 5" wide w/GPS...just amazes me.

 

[wowologist]

I think it might have one, unless they just showed an incorrect programming cable (which is a possibility). The programming cable they show is the standard 2 pin Kenwood jack. But does that mean it will also take a speaker mic? Who the hell knows...

Ya now that you mentioned it, I dont even see where the "keeenwood" 2 pin access is lol...

 

[n1das]

Ya now that you mentioned it, I dont even see where the "keeenwood" 2 pin access is lol...

The Keeenwood 2-pin connector is on the left side, near the rear of the unit and close to the DC power cable and GPS connector. It is visible in one of the pics on Retevis' website if you scroll through the pics.

 

[R8000]

I am pretty sure Yaesu learned this the hard way with the FT 90 micro mini mobile radio. Too small to dissipate the heat. Granted this radio is only 20 watts, still doesn't look like enough surface area. With CCR's track record of not being the cleanest radios as far as RF goes, this doesn't sound like a good idea. I agree it's a neat design, but for long winded ham transmissions, I can envision problems.

 

[AK9R]

But, it has a fan.

The rear housing appears to be cast aluminum, so that will help with the thermal issues.

 

[bharvey2]

I've seen (online, never in person) a few people who install radios on a bicycle or a wheelchair. That's really about the only use I see for a radio like that.

 

[Forts]

According to the manual... yes there is a speaker on the front. And the 2 pin connector is on the left side which they show being used for an external speaker, headset etc.